Belize Confirms First Human Case of New World Screwworm

Belize has just confirmed its first human case of New World Screwworm, a twenty-one-year-old man from Benque is now the first known person in the country to be infected. This parasite was first detected in livestock in the Toledo District back in December 2024. Since then, it’s been spreading steadily, with over three hundred and thirty-five cases reported from Toledo all the way up to Corozal. But here’s what’s new: the Belize Agricultural Health Authority says they’re now seeing more cases in pets than in farm animals. And it’s not just domestic animals. At the end of July, BAHA raised the alarm after two howler monkeys tested positive for the parasite, a sign that it’s affecting wildlife too. Until today, though, no human cases had been reported. To understand what this means for public health and what actions are being taken, we spoke with Kim Bautista, Chief of Vector Control at the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

 

Kim Bautista, Vector Control Chief, Ministry of Health

“We did manage to develop a surveillance guideline for New World Screwworm surveillance and clinical management. We managed to kick ff some sensitization. It is through that collaboration that we have active surveillance within our health facilities. We detected a first case in a twenty-one-year-old male from Benque Viejo in Cayo who visited the San Ignacio hospital with a legion which was infested with New World Screwworm. The protocols we have in place is that samples are sent to the BAHA entomology laboratory because diagnosis is done not through blood test but through entomologic confirmation of the larvae. So physically a few of them are removed from the wound. Those are preserved and sent to the lab where confirmation is made in Central Farm. That was done fairly quickly, the same day and what that did was confirm the first human case in Belize and allowed us to commence proper treatment in the management of that patient. A check revealed the patient is responding very well to treatment and should be released today or early tomorrow morning and we will be monitoring as a ministry the progress in terms of his recovery from New World Screwworm.”

 

According to Bautista, ivermectin and antibiotics were used to treat the first human case of New World Screwworm in Belize.